


Daydream Believer

by KingoftheClouds84



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 20:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15420756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingoftheClouds84/pseuds/KingoftheClouds84
Summary: Several years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Luna is still unsure of what direction her life is going in, as her theories about the existence of nargles aren't exactly hard-hitting career incentives. Meanwhile, George is still learning how to live without his other half, Fred, and lives his daily life crippled by depression. Can the two of them find happiness together? George/Luna.





	Daydream Believer

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys (I guess, I don't really know how to open this since I don't know if anyone is actually going to read it), this is the first thing I've ever posted on AO3 and honestly, I must say, I'm feeling pretty good about it. I wrote this about a year and a half ago, after I randomly realized that I had never seen a George/Luna fic and I kinda thought it would be an interesting dynamic. I grew really fond of Luna after writing her character for a bit, but I'm a wee bit worried that I overshot the whole thing with too many cliches and too much sweetness, idk. I don't really know how to write realistic relationships. Because of that factor, I'd really like to hear everyone's feedback if you read it, and if you guys like it, there's more where that came from. *weeb face*
> 
> Oh and, obviously, not that it really needs to be said...  
> Disclaimer: I do not claim to be the originator of the Harry Potter universe, and all characters, locations, and other things relating to the Harry Potter universe belong to the great J.K. Rowling. I am merely playing with her world and only the barest degree of this story (you know, the actual writing and grammar and stuff) belongs to me.

IF THERE WAS ONE THING THAT LUNA LOVEGOOD KNEW, IT WAS that the nargles will get you in the end, and you could bet your entire vault at Gringott's on that.

But one other thing Luna knew was that she was absolutely, totally, and in no terms uncertain, in love. The man she loved was a strong, daring, brave young Gryffindor who had saved her life, and lives of many others. And no, not Harry Potter, a boy who she was pleased to count as one of her friends, perhaps one of her best friends, but another boy altogether.

It was these thoughts that floated through the young Ravenclaw's head as she dreamily picked her way through and around the massive debris and chaos left over from the Battle of Hogwarts, which had gone down the night before with smashing force, leaving many dead... but gratefully, Harry had put an end to Lord Voldemort, and the wizarding world was safe yet again.

A small stain of blood remained on Luna's shirt, a reminder of the charms cast and curses dispelled throughout the weary long night. Still in her head were engraved the images of blood and terror, the limp bodies sprawled out in the Dining Hall, the screams of her comrades when Harry was thought dead echoing still in her head, visions of Bellatrix Lestrange falling dead at Molly Weasley's feet... and Voldemort's body, taken away to lie in solitude, away from the people whose loved ones had fallen at his wand.

Luna was strong, though. She hadn't been crippled when imprisoned at Malfoy Manor, and she wouldn't cripple now, despite the pain and despair and trauma. She smiled faintly, knowing she had a good head on her shoulders. That's what her mother would surely say.

"Alright then, Luna?" asked a passing Hufflepuff, whose eyes were still ringed with white terror, but she fought it down to ensure the odd Ravenclaw was okay.

"Perfectly fine, thank you," Luna replied slowly, and sighed a wistful sigh. "Have you seen the courtyard? I bet it’s simply teeming with the ghosts of those recently departed."

"Oh, er... I wouldn't know," the student said hastily, and hurried off with her head down, wishing once again that Luna wasn't quite so odd. Still, she found the girl's innocent yet at the same moment oddly aged wisdom comforting.

Luna, of course, was oblivious to all that, and she continued on into the Dining Hall where everyone was gathered once more, huddled in bunches and wrapped in blankets with their fingers curled around a steaming mug of something nice and hot. Luna eagerly joined her friends, while still looking around the room for someone special.

The Gryffindor boy she was dreamily reflecting upon, of course, was Neville Longbottom. Just the night before he had found Luna in the heat of battle and told her just how mad he was about her. It had taken her by surprise that the often meek and shy Neville would approach her like that, but she was more than pleased. She had wanted desperately to tell him how much she cared for him, but thought he wouldn't want to hear those words from such a ditzy, awkward girl as herself. When he told her his feelings, she had thrown herself at him and snogged him, a display of affection by which he was quite embarrassed.

Her feelings for him only magnified when he stood up to Voldemort in the courtyard, bravely defying the Dark Lord and rallying his comrades in the same breath. She had never felt so alive as to feel the electric charge in the air as the boy she loved raised their spirits and whipped them into a furious frenzy. Now she stood up in the Dining Hall, angling her head to try and catch a glimpse of Neville.

"Luna, who are you looking for?" Hermione Granger asked, lifting her head tiredly from Ron Weasley's shoulder, eyes dim with exhaustion.

"Only Neville," Luna replied, knowing Neville to be anything but just "only" himself.

"I think I saw him in the hall with Hannah Abbott," replied Hermione, before laying her head back down.

Luna leapt up, and walked towards the door, passing Harry as she went. She knew he had gone up to the Gryffindor dorm to rest, but he didn't look very well rested. His clothes were still crisp with dirt, mud, and blood and his glasses were still broken.

"Harry, are you alright?" she asked, stopping him briefly.

He nodded dazedly. "I'm… You know, I’m going to be okay, Luna."

"One moment," she said, and pulled out her wand, pointing it at Harry's glasses. "Reparo!"

"Thanks, Luna," Harry said gratefully as his glasses fixed themselves, and he patted Luna's shoulder as he continued on.

"Any time!" Luna called softly after him, and ducked into the destroyed hallway, hoping to spot Neville. And spot him she did, leaning against a broken column with the Hufflepuff Hannah Abbott. Luna slowed as bits of their conversation began to reach her.

"I've always liked you, Neville," Hannah was saying, "But it wasn't until I saw you stand up against You-Know-Who that I actually realized the extent of my feelings. I've wanted to talk to you anyway, ever since our failed date back last year, but I've been too nervous."

Luna cocked her head inquisitively, and listened close for Neville's reply.

"I've always wanted another shot with you, you know," he said quickly, and hesitantly slid his hand over to hers and held it. "Maybe this is my chance."

Luna's head jerked back slightly in surprise at this, and for a moment she wondered if a nearly extinct semi-corporeal Albanian hic-thrasher had crawled into her lungs and was now obstructing the paths for oxygen. She quietly picked her way back to the Dining Hall, refusing to look back and attempting not to dwell on the conversation she had just overheard.

As she moved into the Dining Hall, her shoulder crashed into someone else's, and they both paused to catch themselves. Luna looked up to see that it was George Weasley, his eyes still haunted with grief and his hands shaking as he reached to tighten the blanket thrown over his shoulders. He had lost his other half, his twin brother Fred, just the night before, and it was obvious that it had impacted him deeply.

"Do you need a hug?" Luna offered before she knew what she was offering.

He looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Well, I'm kind of upset and I need a hug," she said slowly, "And I know I'm nowhere near as upset as you must be. So it stands to reason that if I need a hug, you certainly do, and this way we'd be helping each other." She extended her arms out towards him.

George hesitated, but after looking at the earnest yet pained expression on her face, he moved forward into her arms, and wrapped his around her.

"I think everyone could use a good hug after everything that has happened," Luna said as she hugged him, and she heard his muffled agreement as he began to cry very softly.

In the Great Hall, Hermione glanced towards the entrance as she, Ron, and Harry joined the Weasley family, and did a double-take.

"Look," she said, inclining her head towards the hugging duo. "Is that George and Luna?"

The Weasleys looked up in surprise and were even further befuddled when they saw George, broken, sad George, hugging Luna Lovegood.

"That's... incredibly sweet," Mrs. Weasley said, tears coming to her eyes. "I think he needed that."

Harry nodded, but looked worried. "Unfortunately, I think they both did, but considering how she seems to take everything in stride, I can't begin to think why she'd need it."

*******

Three years passed, most of which Luna spent helping with the restoration process at Hogwarts, and slowly the Wizarding world came back from the grievous war it’d had to suffer through for so long.  
Harry and Ron had become Aurors, Hermione had found employment with the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and Ginny had left to travel the world, though Luna had heard through the grapevine that she was entering discussions with the Holyhead Harpies for a Quidditch tour, which would take her away from home longer.

Luna, however, seemingly had nothing to do. She didn't know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, and instead drifted aimlessly, working on Hogwarts restoration one month, returning to her father's house to work on the Quibbler the next. She should be able do whatever she wanted, she felt. After all, she and Hermione had both returned to complete their 7th year at Hogwarts, along with Ginny, and they had all achieved outstanding NEWTs to go with their above average OWLs. No wizarding institution could possibly turn her down, yet there was nothing she truly wanted to do.  
She wandered through Diagon Alley several times a week, walking through the crowds as she retreated deeply into her mind to daydream even as she moved.

One day she passed a growing crowd outside a lit up shop in a corner of Diagon Alley, and realized as she looked at the large magical display outside, she was standing in front of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, the joke supply shop that Fred and George Weasley had opened years before. As far as Luna knew, it was still shut down as it had been ever since Fred died, but as she drew near, she saw the crowd was murmuring over the fact that the shop had just opened for the first time in ages.

The crowd respectfully shuffled in only a few at a time, to ensure that they didn't overwhelm George, who was still unhinged by his twin's death. Luna hung back at edge of the crowd, looking in through the window to see George moving quietly behind the counter and helping the few customers in at the moment. Some of the joy and mirth that had vanished from his face since Fred died had returned, and he seemed to be in better spirits.

A flashing sign caught Luna's eye and she turned her head to see a sign that read

Help Wanted  
A Full-Time Assistant  
Inquiries to be taken at the counter

With a jolt, Luna couldn't help wonder if this was what she had been waiting for, the purpose for which she was destined. She thought it was silly, really, but at least this would provide a pleasant distraction from the normal routine.

When the last of the crowd slinked out, she slipped into the shop and made her way through the trinkets and gags to the front counter, where she waited patiently for someone to make an appearance.

"Somebody out there?" came a voice, and the red-headed owner of that voice appeared from the back, eyes tired but not as dim as the last time Luna had seen him. He leaned against the counter and briefly flashed the mischievous smile he and his twin had been known for. "Why, hello, Luna. What can I do you for? Puking Pastilles? U-No-Poo?"

"No," Luna said lightly, "I just came to inquire after a job."

George blinked. "You... need a job?"

"Well, not so much need one, but I do want one, if that's okay," she replied, wondering if the lack of need would set her back on the list of applicants.

"Well, come on to the back, and we'll talk," he offered, and extended his arm politely. They both walked into the spacious backroom, and he gestured for her to take a seat on the couch.

She perched on the edge and stared at George with an oddly piercing look, which made him shift slightly uncomfortably.

"What are your qualifications?" he asked casually, "Besides having experience giving hugs to distraught wizards."

She smiled at the reminder, and then frowned as she tried to think of qualifications. "I guess I have none. I've only done work at Hogwarts for the restoration process, and at the Quibbler, and briefly at the Ministry."

"Well, the fact that you're an old friend does play out well for you," George grinned again, before slumping a little when he saw his reflection in a silver cup on a nearby table.

"When could you start?" George asked, leaning back. "Hypothetically."

"I was going to look for the long-beaked drakon later, but I don't really have any plans, so I could start now," Luna said, sitting up straighter. "Hypothetically, of course."

George stood up and paced the width of the room, stopping every few feet to look at Luna, before continuing to pace. She sat patiently until he finally stop and turned to face her.

"Listen," he said, sitting down next to her. "I still haven't really gotten over... ahem, gotten over Fred's death. And... every now again I get really down about that. It's so bloody hard to get up every morning, and hard to fall asleep at night."

"It's that damn war," Luna said in her normal voice, but George was taken aback to hear her swear. "It's still affecting us all even though it ended years ago."

"Sometimes I get so bogged down in my memories I can't even move," George admitted, scooting closer. "That, or I break out the firewhiskey for a few hours and lose myself in the alcohol until I feel better… which never happens. Even when I'm sober, I end up lashing out at people. I'm just not grounded."

"I can help ground you," offered Luna. "You need emotional support more than anything, and your family is too close, too grieved to give you what you need. But I can!"

George was touched. "You would do that?" When she nodded he was speechless for a moment. "You're hired, Luna."

She smiled, and when the bell over the door to the store chimed, she sprang up. "Customers. I'll handle it, you rest." She ducked out, but then poked her head back in. "I don't know if you've given much thought to your security around here. I'll put up some charms and things to ward off nargles. It's only a temporary defense, but it'll do for now."

Luna left again, leaving George unsure just what he had done hiring her, but shrugged. Surely it would be a change to have someone like that around daily, but he knew it would be for the better.

*******

George was stunned by how well things worked out with Luna. She would arrive first thing in the morning to help him open, and they would work together, side-by-side for a few hours until George began to feel fatigued, and then he would stop and sit in a chair behind the counter until depression threatened to overwhelm him, and he would disappear into the back until he heard Luna lock the door behind the last customer before Apparating home.

A month after Luna had started, George paced in the back room and listened for the familiar click of the door's lock, but minutes ticked by and he hadn't heard the last customer leave. He poked his head out to see Luna having an animated conversation with a bored looking customer. George chuckled to himself as he walked out to rescue the bloke.

"Er, Luna, I think it's time we locked up," he said, approaching her and resting his hand on her shoulder. The customer grabbed his bag, flashed George a grateful smile, and scurried out the door. George lifted his wand and the door locked quickly.

"Firewhiskey?" George offered, pulling a bottle from below the counter.

"Er, no thanks," Luna replied, "I think I'll just head home, now." She moved towards the door, but George put up his hand.

"At least stay and talk a while," he said, perching on a stool. "It's been a month since you started here, let's celebrate." He popped the top of the firewhiskey and started pouring into a mug.

Luna was still planning to leave, but when she noticed that he had filled the mug to the brim and was gulping it down, she sighed and headed back to his side.

"Okay, George," she said, and watched with worry as he drained his mug and began to pour again.

"So, why aren't you working at the Quibbler? Not that I want to get rid of you, you've been great, it's just I always thought you'd end up there."

Luna nodded. "I always enjoyed it when I was a child, and it's still a passion of mine, but it's always been more my father's thing than mine. And I want to find my own thing."

"Fred and I wanted to be free... free to do what we wanted," George said quietly, shoving aside his mug and drinking directly from the bottle. "That's what this store is. Our passion, our freedom, our everything... well, mine, now. All because of Voldemort, everything he and I worked so hard to build is only half as meaningful as before."

"That must've been so hard for you," Luna said, reaching her hand out and squeezing his arm.

George sat there for a moment shaking his head before he swung his fist out, knocking the mug off the counter and into the wall, which broke with a loud crash.

"It's all because of Harry!" George spat irrationally, making Luna back up, nervous. "He had plenty of time to save Hermione, or Ron, or even you, but when it came time for him to save Fred, he wasn't there!"

"Only because he was fighting the Dark Lord!" retorted Luna, moving closer. "George, you need to calm down."

George started to sob, and he pulled his firewhiskey bottle towards his mouth, but Luna whipped out her wand.

"Diffindo!"

The bottle exploded, but George didn't care. He tossed the bottleneck that remained, and raised his hands to his face to wipe his tears. Luna couldn't stand to see him like that. She moved closer to him, reaching out and taking one of his hands between her own and started massaging his fingers.

"I know you miss your brother, but taking it out on Harry, taking it out on your family, or taking it out on yourself isn't going to bring him back!" Luna insisted, firmly. "Would Fred want you to live your life like this?"

He shook his head, and with a sniffle, he turned his head into her shoulder, and she ran her fingers over the back of his head, avoiding where he was missing an ear.

"Let's get you to bed," Luna suggested, and taking his hand, she helped him off the stool, and led him upstairs to his flat above the shop. George tripped slightly as she led him up the stairs, but she righted him and helped him into the flat.

Luna turned the lights on and walked him over to his bed, pulling his covers back and helping him sit down.

"Will you stay with me?" George asked, dragging the back of his hand over his nose.

Luna hesitated, as George stretched out and lowered his head to the pillow. "Of course," she said, eventually, and once George drifted off, a light frown on his face, she cut the lights, climbed in next to him carefully, and closed her eyes. Luna had planned to keep her distance, but as soon as she fell asleep, she rolled over towards his warm back, and snuggled up to him. And surprisingly enough, he rolled towards her, snuggling her back.

*******

George woke up with the familiar pain of a splitting headache that came from drinking his weight in booze, as well as the sour metallic taste in his mouth as well. He groaned as sunlight from the window fell across his face, and he shifted slightly, making him aware of something solid and warm against his body. He lifted his head lightly to see Luna, lying on his chest, arm stretched across his body, and sighing in her sleep when she felt him shift.

Head pounding and mouth unbelievably dry, George struggled to make sense of the memories from the night before. He vaguely remembered Luna talking some sense into him... well, yelling, rather. He remembered a shattered mug (fifth one that month), a broken bottle, and Luna comforting him. She must have helped him up to his room... Merlin, had he asked her to stay?

He carefully slid out from underneath her before her closeness evoked any particular... ahem, reactions, and he carefully stood up, head rushing with blood and pain. He glanced back at her, and was struck by how gorgeous and angelically beautiful she looked with the sun falling across her slumbering form, the sheets bunching around her form as she shifted, and her pale blonde hair spilling all across the pillows, framing her face.

George shook his head. He couldn't believe he was getting caught up in all these thoughts about Luna Lovegood. His employee. His friend.

He stumbled down the stairs to the shop, and started looking for a bottle of firewhiskey. He tore through a supply closet to the hidden hidey hole there, but it was empty. He heard a shuffling behind him and turned to see Luna standing there, bedhead and all, wand outstretched.

"If I see one more bottle of firewhiskey in this shop or your flat, George Weasley, I will curse you to oblivion," she warned, and smiled lightly when George raised his hands in surrender and moved away from the closet.

"You slept over," George said, not really a question, just an observation.

"You asked me to," Luna replied, cocking her head.

Bugger. "Didn't my night terrors bother you?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"You didn't have any."

George looked shocked, shell-shocked. "I've had them every single night since the Battle of Hogwarts. Are you some kind of miracle worker?"

"Is that a compliment?" Luna asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Of course. Hey, thanks for last night. Listen, let's just both take the day off," George said, scratching his head.

"Seems irresponsible," Luna teased.

"Exactly, that’s the point, we’ve earned it!" George replied, and they laughed for a moment, before fading into an awkward silence. George scratched the back of his head as his eyes met hers, which sparkled mysteriously in the early morning light.

"I'll be going, now," Luna said, and George nodded. She smiled a faint smile before Apparating away.

*******

Luna was still worried about George, though, even though she tried to hide it and think about other things. Instead of going home to Ottery St. Catchpole, she got a room above the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley, just down from George, just in case of an emergency. She perched in her room's window to watch the sunset, the latest edition of the Quibbler at her side.

The darker it got, the more she worried about leaving George alone. It had taken very little to push him over the edge, and that made her worry even more. She couldn't even go to bed.

Eventually Luna gave up, springing up and grabbing a cloak and slipping out of her room. She slipped downstairs and out into the dark quiet street, raising her wand and whispering, "Lumos!"

With the light from her wand brightening her path, Luna slowly made her way to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was quiet as she approached, but nothing seemed abnormal or out of the ordinary. She unlocked the door, and slipped in, and instantly she froze as a heart-wrenching cry came from George's flat. Without a thought, she slammed the door shut behind her and rushed up the stairs, blasting through the door and towards the bed, where George writhed in agony, all wrapped and tangled in his sheets, and stuck in his nightmare.

Luna turned on the lights quickly, and started calling George's name, trying to wake him up. She threw herself at the bed, ripping at the sheets, trying to free him.

"George! George!" she screamed, and finally George's body shuddered, and stilled as he awakened, stomach rising as he took deep shallow breaths.

"Luna? Is that you?" came a moan from the pillow.

Luna stood and grabbed George's hand frantically. "Yes, yes, I'm here."

"Don't ever leave me again," George said, squeezing her hand, and he pushed himself up to look into her eyes. "I mean it. I've never felt more calm or serene than when I'm in your presence. And obviously you calm me down if I didn't have any nightmares when you slept over."

"You want me to sleep over every night?" Luna asked, more than a little surprised.

"Why don't you move in?" George offered. "That way I'll get better, and the shop will be right down stairs. Talk about an easy commute."

It was a strange, and some would say ludicrous, request, but Luna was no stranger to strange, and she shrugged.

"Alright."

And so she moved in, and slept in his bed every night, and George didn't have night terrors again. At first she tried moving in a cot and sleeping on that, but she would quickly be awakened by George's cries, and when he awoke from his bad dreams, neither of them went back to sleep, so eventually she just moved into his bed as well.

Whether George wanted to admit it or not, a relationship had sprung up between him and Luna. They acted like a couple. All Luna had to do was look at George and he'd instantly know what she was thinking, and what she was feeling. And Luna didn't even need George to look at her for her to know what was happening in his mind.

At first they resisted touching each other while in bed, but eventually they realized they'd end up snuggling and cuddling together anyway, and so every night Luna lay in George's arms, head tucked under his chin, quite comfortable with the situation.

Where George went, Luna went. Where Luna went, George was likely to follow.

When George showed up at Percy's engagement party with Luna on his arm, the entire Weasley clan, plus Harry and Hermione, were quite surprised, and stared at the couple for a few minutes, waiting for an explanation.

George ignored them all and went to introduce himself to Percy's fiance.

"I'm Percy's better looking brother, George," he said, smiling jovially. "And this is Luna, my... um... my person."

"I'm your person? Luna asked, looking at him quizzically.

"Well, yes, in a way. It’s the best title I can think of... At least until I marry you," George explained simply, leaving his person to blush awkwardly.

And he did marry her, less than a year after that. It was a charming but short wedding, as George and Luna didn't need a big ceremony to tell them that they belonged to each other- they already knew that.

The years passed, and Luna gave birth to three red-headed children, Fred, Molly, and Rowena, who grew up in the joke shop, every kid's dream, and were brought up to be sure to bring mayhem to Hogwarts when they finally went.

If the kids knew that their mother was downright odd, they gave no indication of it, loving her for her charm and caring, and her wonderfully dreamy bedtime stories about princesses.

"Well, at least she tells stories normally," George thought to himself as he watched his children lay in bed with their mother as she finished up a story. He turned away, but a caught a brief exchange that made him retract the statement he had just made.

"So is the princess still around today?" asked Molly, head on Luna's shoulder.

"I'm afraid not."

"Why not, Mum?" Fred asked. "I wanna know."

"Well, she went mad, of course. The nargles got her in the end, don't you know."

"MOM!"

THE END


End file.
